[ A Critical Leadership Skill: Managing a Remote Workforce ]

The 9-to-5 workweek in the office is quickly becoming obsolete. Remote workers are more common, but some companies aren’t embracing the trend. Early in 2017, IBM announced that all remote workers would now have to work in one of its six main offices around the United States.

Any employee who refused would be terminated, and employees didn’t even get to choose which office they were going to. IBM’s explanation was that it needed greater innovation, and some leaders share the belief that direct supervision of employees is the key to being the most productive. However, not trusting employees to perform out of your sight makes hiring and retaining high-performing people a challenge.

IBM isn’t the only major company requiring all employees to work in the office. There are a lot of misconceptions about a remote workforce, and the biggest is that work won’t get done at home. Managers fear that letting one person work from home will make others want to do the same, and there’s also the assumption that managing remote workers is too different from managing in-house employees. But the job is basically the same: All you need to do is use technology more creatively, be sensitive to people feeling isolated, and schedule regular communication.